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Submarine Theories

• We can see some kind of "wave" twice at the end of season 1 just before the raft is destroyed by the Others. The first time we can see it is when the radar is beeping, the second time a few seconds before the Others' boat lights come up (and the wave is NOT where the boat comes up). This wave could have been done by the top of the sub (which could have been there in case of resistance from Michael, Sawyer and Jin).
• In "Homecoming", there is a shot out to sea where sinister music is played and the surface of the water is broken by the submarine.
• A submarine was used to approach the Island to prevent the original inhabitants making visual contact. Implies that the submarine crew thought original inhabitants of the Island were not advanced enough to detect a vessel approaching the Island underwater.
  • The submarine crew were very much mistaken and the submarine fell into the hands of the Island's inhabitants, just like Mikhail said.
• The sub isn't the only way to get off the Island, according to Ben, who said that Michael and Walt would get home if they followed the compass-bearing of 325 with the boat.
  • The assumption would be that one can leave the Island by following a 325 compass-bearing, but for some reason that the only way they know of (besides by "accident/crash landing...") to return to the Island is by following the underwater sonar beacon.
    • This is because the properties of the Island cause all tracking equipment( compass, GPS, etc ) to fail. The only way there, other than by accident, is to follow the sound. Besides the sonar buoy, the only other source of sound is the ever-transmitting radio-tower that Danielle and her crew followed to the Island. Its status is unknown following the explosion of the Swan.
• Locke was able to approach the submarine without passing through the sonic barrier because there was no need for protection from the waterfront. The Monster cannot travel over water, in the same way it cannot pass over the sonic barrier, because it is controlled via underground tracks (explaining the mechanical sounds made by the Monster). DHARMA had no need for enclosure from the waterfront because they did not provide their representatives on the Island with a waterborne mode of transportation.
• There is considerable reason to doubt that Ethan was telling the full truth. While Juliet is led to believe that she reached the island by submarine, there is no actual evidence of a submarine journey. To make the full journey she would have had to be kept asleep for many days. It's uncertain why it would be necessary to hide the journey to the place where Juliet boarded the submarine from her or why it was necessary to keep her asleep until the sub was actually docked at the barracks.
  • Perhaps to get to the island it is necessary to travel back in time (maybe the island no longer exists in the present day?), therefore Juliet is put to sleep so that she is not aware of the time travel involved.
  • Roger and Benjamin Linus were not drugged when they arrived on the sub. The Dharma Initiative did not need to drug people while using the sub, they merely kept the island's location a secret. After the purge, the Others disabled the sub(s) so that Dharma was effectively cut off. Ben had been spending years prior to the purge figuring out how and when to do this. The Others use a different vessel for Island travel, possibly a plane. The Others use the sub as a red herring for both the new comers and the viewers.
    • There is no evidence that they were NOT drugged either.
• The process used to travel in the submarine is similar to that in the short story "The Jaunt" by Stephen King, in that the person/people taking the trip must remain unconscious during the travel or have their mind trapped for an infinite amount of time in a separate time-stream
• The "roughness" of approaching the island in the sub is similar to the turbulence experienced by Frank, Sayid, and Desmond when they left the island via helicopter.
• The sub is only used for local trips around the island (including access to the Looking Glass). The Orchid, with its time/space travel abilities, is how Juliet was brought to the island. She was drugged, brought to the island from Mittelos Bioscience via the Orchid (via a direct connection between the two), and placed on the sub so she wouldn't question the travel method.

The submarine was not destroyed

• Locke didn't blow up the submarine - he moved it away from the dock and swam back. This is why Locke is soaking wet when he is captured by the Others. Instead he removed fuel containers and other debris and blew that up which then sank to the bottom.
  • Locke knew from the beginning that Ben wanted the sub destroyed. Therefore it makes sense that Locke would move the sub and blow up debris instead, leading Ben to believe that the sub had been destroyed.
  • The submarine is not seen as he walks away from it, and the explosion occurs on the dock itself.
    • Locke had his reason to destroy the submarine, and it makes no sense to save the sub because Ben wants it destroyed too, he haven't became his "nemesis" at this point, merely someone who knows answers for questions.

The submarine is not used for travel to and from the Island

• Travel to and from the Island is by whatever method is enabled by the Island. Think, in general terms of teleportation booths. The Island booth is at the Looking Glass and people who are not allowed to know how inbound travel works are sedated, transported, placed on the submarine, and moved to the dock. When they arrived, they are awakened and led out of the boat. Outbound travel works in reverse, starting with being sedated after boarding the submarine.